A pomegranate (punica granatum) has been known since ancient times and is mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. The pomegranate is the fruit of a small deciduous tree native to Asia having a tough reddish skin (also called a rind) and contains many seeds that are each enclosed in a juicy, mildly acidic pulp jacket, referred to as an aril. The pulp jacket, as well as the seeds are edible, while the skin and thicker white membranes between the arils are not generally edible or at least desirable for consumption.
The pomegranate is a globus fruit surmounted by a crown of calyx lobes. The pomegranate may be as small as an orange or as large as a grapefruit. The pomegranate has a thick though fleshy rind often red in color. Inside the fruit are tiny juice sacks (arils) each containing a small quantity of sweet red juice. Groups of arils within the core of the fruit are encased in the white membranes similar in texture and sourness to a lemon peel. In its natural state, arils are grouped together and connected by these white membranes forming a pattern within the fruit similar to sections within an orange.
Up to the present time there is no acceptable apparatus in the prior art for manually opening a pomegranate to extract the arils therefrom. Accordingly, a need exists for the present invention which is an apparatus and method for splitting a pomegranate apart.